Wales claim Triple Crown in Ireland

DUBLIN, Ireland -- Wales rallied to win 16-12 away to Ireland on Saturday afternoon and keep alive its hopes of winning the Six Nations Grand Slam.

Ireland dominated the opening exchanges at Croke Park and led 6-0 but Wales put the home side under pressure with some incisive attacks down the wings as Shane Williams got a crucial try on top of eight kicked points for fly-half Stephen Jones.

The victory earned Wales the Triple Crown title for beating the three other British Isles sides, and leaves it needing victory in the likely championship decider at home to France next week to complete just its second Grand Slam in 30 years.

Ireland, meanwhile, is out of contention and has just a trip to England remaining.

"If we can perform and knuckle down like we did today, then we certainly can win," man-of-the-match Williams said.

Ronan O'Gara put Ireland 6-0 ahead with a penalty each side of a missed effort from in front of the posts by Jones -- Wales' first missed kick of the entire tournament.

Shane Horgan, who only came into the team when Girvan Dempsey and Geordan Murphy were ruled out injured, then almost got the first try midway through the first half. Horgan came in from the right wing and grounded the ball in the tackle just short of the line.

Having escaped going 11-0 down with a simple conversion attempt to follow, Wales began competing up front more effectively and employing occasional bursts from the backs to break out down the wings.

One of those breaks ended with the award of a penalty, which Jones kicked for 6-3, and another almost brought a try but Lee Byrne was barged into touch just short after taking an outside pass by Tom Shanklin.

Wales' domination was threatened when scrumhalf Mike Phillips was sin-binned for 10 minutes in the 39th for dropping his knee into the prone Marcus Horan's back, but Warren Gatland's team still drew level in the 46th through another penalty by Jones.

With Phillips back on the field, the visitors then went ahead for the first time through Williams.

The winger beat a tackle by Andrew Trimble and crossed in the corner to draw level with Gareth Thomas at the top of Wales' all-time try scoring charts with 40. Jones converted to make it 13-6

Flanker Martyn Williams was then ejected for 10 minutes for disrupting an Ireland counterattack with a deliberate trip on Eoin Reddan, giving O'Gara another kick at goal to make it 13-9 and bring the home side to within a single score.

Wales' discipline waned again and O'Gara trimmed the deficit to a single point with a penalty awarded when the visiting front row persisted in standing up too early to disrupt the scrum.

But Ireland's attempted fightback was hit with 10 minutes left when captain Brian O'Driscoll was carried from the field with a right leg injury, and Martin Williams returned to action to help Wales close out the match.

Ireland replacement Bernard Jackman then conceded a penalty in front of the posts with a shoulder charge on the sitting Ryan Jones, and replacement James Hook made it 16-12 with five minutes remaining.

"It was probably the hardest game so far," Shane Williams said.

Meanwhile, Jonny Wilkinson became the highest points-scorer in Test history in Saturday's later game in Edinburgh, but his three penalties could not prevent England from crashing to a 15-9 defeat by Scotland.

The fly-half moved to 1099, nine clear of the previous best mark set by Neil Jenkins of Wales, after the International Rugby Board ruled before the match that the British and Irish Lions' warm-up game against Argentina in May 2005 -- in which he scored 20 points -- had full status.

England's defeat ended its title hopes, and gave Scotland a first victory of the 2008 campaign -- and only its third win in the last 19 meetings with the Auld Enemy.

The home side led the 115th Calcutta Cup match 9-3 at half-time, with Chris Paterson kicking three penalties to Wilkinson's record-breaker in wet and muddy conditions at Murrayfield.

Paterson extended the lead with his fourth success within a minute of the restart and Dan Parks added another three-pointer from inside the English half after Jamie Noon was penalized for a dangerously late body check on Hugo Southwell.

Wilkinson landed two penalties in quick succession to give England hope with half an hour left to play, but neither side seriously threatened to add to their points score as both the new record holder and captain Phil Vickery were replaced late on.

"I am really delighted for the long suffering supporters," Scotland coach Frank Hadden said. "Its been difficult with all the press downing the team, and it has not been easy to maintain confidence with all that negativity."

Paterson's 100% record with the boot extended a remarkable record which has not seen him miss since August 2007 -- a run of 30 successful kicks at goal. E-mail to a friend

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